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Fertitta’s $20 Million UH Donation To Bump Hofheinz from Pavilion to Plaza Status

The $20-million basketball stadium donation previously rumored to be on its way from Landry’s owner and UH board of regents chairman Tilman Fertitta was confirmed this morning by the school, which also released renderings of what’s planned for Hofheinz Pavilion — eventually to sport the name Fertitta Center. The depictions of the $60-million upgrade include some prominent views of a well-labeled Hofheinz Plaza, part of a deal with the Hofheinz family after a lawsuit over the basketball arena’s planned renaming.

Below are a few more shots of the plans, which UH says should be wrapped up by the end of the 2018-19 season:

Why not go all the way and make it Fertitta University for another $100 mil. Sell the UH moniker and associated logos and paraphernalia to the South Texas College of Law and farm out the cougar to UH-D, so they can dump their scarily-silly two-legged green gator into the bayou below.
Let Fertitta hold a contest for a new mascot.
And what about making One Main a Hofheinz? It may not be a pavilion, but it has landmark status nonetheless. And it’s even historic, with nice panorama of the Downtown skyscrapers, including the courthouse district and that picturesque chilling facility at the confluence of Buffalo and Whiteoak Bayou. This institution already sits in the primest of all prime locations, overlooking Allen’s Landing where it all began. Where swamp became city. It just needs a stronger identity now, respectful of history. Recognition.
Not to mention that Hofheinz University would end the perennial identify crisis of a University of Houston System component that is not sure if its UHD, UH-D, UH Downtown, The University of Houston Downtown, or whatever it is, or wants to be. And what not: Like just a Downtown campus of Fertitta University.

I guess I don’t know what it’s like to have $20 million to give away, but why is Tillman’s ego so big that he has to insist that the arena be named after him. Why not let the Hofheinz name remain, and settle for a small plaque near the entrance lobby thanking him for his generous support? It seems that today’s class of multi-millionaires/billionaires just have to have attention thrown their way. Just donate the money, take the tax deduction, and smile at night to yourself that you’ve helped others.

As a proud UH alumnus, I am enjoying all the hate. Someone please tell me next time you hear of a $20MM donation to a school that doesn’t involve naming rights. You think it is called Joe Jamail Field at DKR Stadium just because he was a great laywer? Is Baylor’s McLane Statdium named after Drayton because he’s just a really cool guy? Go Coogs, baby. Beat OU!

As a fundraising professional, it makes complete sense to provide naming rights for $20M. This is not exclusive to stadiums. Nearly every other nonprofit institution that can draw a transformational gift. Walk into Asia Society and every architecural element possible (including stairs) are named or provided by some entity.

But don’t worry, UH will want to rotate the stadium about 5 degrees the year after completion, providing some other entity naming rights, but $20M won’t cut it.